


In the Name of Science

by elations



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-03-20 07:10:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3641331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elations/pseuds/elations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sakura decides to toy with the idea of regeneration jutsus, she gets more than she bargained for. Takes place post 4th shinobi war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's For Science, I Swear.

**Author's Note:**

> I botched canon big time to accommodate myself! :)  
> Playing around with an incomplete idea, please bear with me.

When Kankuro had asked her to show him the final resting place of Sasori’s body, Sakura almost refused. She still had nightmares about that creep and his equally creepy puppets, all that chattering of wooden joints as they careened through the air.

Just the memory of it was enough to send a shiver down her spine. That, or it was the freezing nights in Suna that was pebbling her flesh. Sakura drew her coat closer all the same. She didn't need to stay there, in Suna that is, but a sudden curiosity had hit her. Or insanity. Either way, it was for science.

Kankuro had been wont to hand it over to her, but there it was in all of it's mysterious glory: the thing Sasori had called his core. Or as Sakura called it, his heart. And surely it was only heart in name, because it definitely didn't pump blood like a human heart. But maybe it was more inclined to use chakra instead of blood for it's ethereal purposes.

Sakura had been debating this point in particular for what must've been hours, if the clock could be trusted. It hadn't been just that single thought, of course, because Kankuro had been very specific with his fears. As if she needed a warning. So yes, she had spent hours exploring each pathway of how this product of advanced technique could possibly operate and even kill her, if it could indeed regenerate.

She squinted at the seal Kankuro had slapped on the damnable thing. To peel or not to peel, that was the question. Releasing all hell onto the earth was certainly nothing to sneeze at, _but it was for science._ Okay, it was her own selfish desire to know, but she'd never admit it to a crowded room.

Sakura gave the seal a good hard look, daring it to try and resist her will. Predictably it had no response. Had she expected this piece of paper to become sentient and talk her out of this lunacy? It would be easier to talk Naruto out of loving ramen.

She exhaled softly, letting the muscles in her body relax. How did the saying go? Nothing lost nothing gained? Well, here went nothing.

It was something of a crestfallen disappointment when the makeshift heart had no response. It looked like all of Kankuro's fears were unfounded after all. All the adrenaline in her system faltered now, unsure of how to cope with this anticlimactic turn of events.

She probed it gently with her fingers. The cool, yielding flesh of it was not unlike a human heart. So, hypothetically, it was a human heart. Of course a real heart was just as useless without blood surging through it, but connected to a circulatory system...

Her own heart pounding loudly in her ears, Sakura tentatively jolted the core with her chakra. A moment of tense silence, and then the mass in her hand twitched. She nearly dropped it in fearful surprise but held it firmly as she watched the wounds close. It was slow but it was happening, the (tissue?) of it stitching together seamlessly. The gaping holes didn't heal entirely, much to her relief. That had to be a good sign right?

She had to tell Kankuro right away. Or at least she should, but she had the sneaking suspicion that he would refuse to take this any further. Although she would need a certain puppet of his to carry this little experiment any further...

A clever puppet with eyelashes so thick it would make Ino jealous, with hair so ridiculously candy colored it rivaled her own.

_Sasori_.

She hastily dropped the core on the table, a mixture of fear and excited curiosity tingling her fingertips. After resealing the core, Sakura leaned back in her chair. A glance out the window showed the desert city awash in pale moonlight.

It was a little spooky, she had to admit, that her temporary headquarters previously belonged to Chiyo. Which meant, by guilt of association, that a young Sasori had lived here too.

She had it from Chiyo that he had been a shy, sweet boy until his parent were killed. What was his damage? Plenty of kids lost their parents in war time and didn't turn into psychotic puppeteering freaks.

She mused on the psychological processes that might've played any role in the corruption of a sweet little soul until she fell asleep.

He next morning found her bleary eyed at the desk, slumped against the back of her chair. She wondered what had woken her so early when a knock at her door reminded her. Unsuccessfully she tried to stand, her back seizing in pain from her sleeping position. She fell like a ton of bricks.

"Keep your shorts on," she grunted, struggling to her knees.

"Sakura are you okay? I heard..." Kankuro trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek as he leaned against the doorway. "Shut up," she warned preemptively. "I fell asleep in the chair."

"Been playin' with that thing all night?" He gestured to the core on the table. "Wait, the wounds—"

"Yeah, about that..."


	2. Reunited And It Feels So Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling generous so I'm posting twice the sasosaku today. <3

"I want you to disarm the Sasori puppet."

"Okay, now bear with me here, but have you gone off the deep end?"

Sakura sent her friend a withering glare from the unused bed. Kankuro sat opposite her in the desk chair, arms folded over the back of it as she told him all of her thoughts from last night. 

"If that thing can regenerate itself," she pointed at the motionless core on the desk. "Do you know what this means?"

"The return of an S-rank criminal into a fledgling peace? War, potentially," he offered nonchalantly. "Plus, y'know, he's an S-rank for a reason. He'd probably thank us with a poison kunai in our backs."

"Which is why you disarm the puppet," she interjected with grit teeth. She hated debating with Kankuro. He was always so frustratingly _calm_ and here she was, fiddling with the coverlet so she didn't clench her fists. That would only make him smug. "If it doesn't work you can rub it in my face all you want." 

"That's the thing. I really think it _will_ work." He paused, looking a little worried. "Which is why I'm wondering why you think this is a good idea." 

Sakura was probably one of the smartest people he knew. He trusted her judgment almost unfailingly, but this was a snag of contention. They had both fought Sasori, both knew what he was capable of. That devil of a man with a snake's tongue and a scorpion's sting. 

"Not exactly a good idea," she conceded grudgingly. Good idea, bad idea. It was all semantics. 

"Then why—"

"For science!" She blurted. When in doubt, claim it's for the good of mankind. She cleared her throat and tried to make a reasonable answer out of her thoughts. "I want to compare the regeneration of this," she poked the diamond seal on her forehead. "To the core. And I need our special friend to tell me how it works."

Kankuro barked a laugh. Special friend _indeed_.

"Plus, don't pretend like you don't have questions of your own," she smirked knowingly. "He's like your celebrity crush or something." 

Kankuro pursed his lips. She had him there. 

"Fine," he relinquished, a mighty gusting sigh the only sign of his reluctance. "I gotta admit, this should be pretty cool." 

"I know," she smirked. It was a beautiful thing when you got what you were fighting for. She just had to ignore the knot forming in her throat and everything would be just peachy.

Even though she didn't know the first thing about puppets, Kankuro thought it was wise that Sakura knew how the pieces of Sasori's body clicked together. This was somehow more intimate than fiddling with his dormant heart, watching Kankuro fit together wooden joints of someone she had known. Very briefly, but she had never forgotten him. 

He removed a surprising number of hidden blades while Sakura studied the eyes. So dead and glassy, not at all like they had been last she saw them. Could chakra make a puppet seem so human? 

"Do they ever creep you out?" She asked absently, squinting inside of the chest cavity. 

"Shinobi from Suna are made of tougher stuff than those babies over in Konoha." He wasn't smirking long before Sakura nudged him and he fell from his crouched position over the body. 

"What was that?" Her voice was light but he knew that unmistakable glint in her eye. 

"They're a little spooky I guess, but they're kinda like a weird family to me." 

"Yeah, you're pretty weird. I can see it." Satisfied with this new answer, Sakura pulled her hair back to really get down to business. 

It wasn't much different than memorizing bones of the human body. This goes here, connects like this, moves this way, and so on. Their only breaks were for rushed meals and excited speculation. 

After breaking the puppet down and reassembling it a handful of times, he deemed Sakura knowledgeable enough to handle any unforeseeable mishaps. It was finally time to consider the final stage: reanimation. 

"This seal tag should suppress most of his chakra. He should have just enough to function." Sakura didn't need to say what might happen if he was wrong. She stretched while he looked over the puppet once more.

"He doesn't really need arms," he shrugged, answering her silent question when she turned back around. If Sasori could create so much as a chakra thread, they'd be toast. Arms or not. 

Jolting the core again proved enough to heal it completely and it may have all been in her head, but she could've _sworn_ that it pulled to be reunited with its host. 

They stood back, letting the tense silence engulf them as they waited. Sakura flexed her hands in anticipation, waiting for that old nemesis to blink, speak, move. She could see the core bulge; see it pulsing out weak beats of chakra into the puppet with no arms. 

Slowly, so unbearably slowly, the transformation was happening. A twitch of a toe here, a spasm of a leg there, but it was happening. Consciousness was returning to brain. No that wasn't right, he didn't have a brain per se. But he was becoming... _sentient_ again. It showed in the eyes mostly, and she wondered again how a simple life force could make those eyes seem so human.

"Sakura." It was as if nothing had ever changed, he had never been dormant for so many years. His voice was as clear as if he had been functional this whole time, but what did she expect? He was inhuman after all. 

It's as if he had pinned her against the wall with the very notice of her. His eyes were steady, unwavering. She wanted to gasp, wanted to hide, but she had long trained herself to forgo those initial fear responses. 

"Sorry...to have kept you waiting." He finished with that stupid all knowing smirk that fit too comfortably on his face, like it did on Sasuke's face. Yes, if she could just think of him as her girlhood crush, she wouldn't be so afraid of him. How could he look so triumphant with no arms and barely enough chakra to keep him alive? It was irritating. She grit her teeth and was almost ready to come back with something witty (or stupid) when good old Kankuro stepped in with a scoff.

"What, no romantic greeting for me?"  


	3. Research Question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey wow finally right? turns out I already had most of this written.

Sasori's head turned slightly to settle his eyes on Kankuro. 

"Romance has no part in my respect for such a strong little girl." The smirk had fallen from his face, it had only been a charade anyhow. His eyes roamed back to the “little girl” in question. “Although, she seems to have grown a little since last we met.”

“Yeah, no doubt she could kick your ass indefinitely,” Kankuro snickered. 

“Um, right here?” Sakura waved her hand in front of Kankuro’s face. _Figures. He’s said a handful of words to the guy and he’s completely starstruck_. Not to mention she disliked people talking over her head. It reminded her too much of her genin days.

“I suppose there’s a reason I’ve been revived to this debilitated state,” Sasori cut in, lip curling in disgust as he noticed his lack of arms and likely his sealed chakra. “Intel on Akatsuki?”

“You don’t remember anything from the war?” Kankuro was more than a little disappointed that his fight with the puppet master hadn’t been remembered. Sasori narrowed his eyes but said nothing, guessing correctly that the leader’s vision had come to pass. Or fail, it looked like.

“So no, obviously not intel on Akatsuki.” Sakura was hesitant to speak, those eyes were so unnerving on her, but this was her pet project. They would get no where useful with Kankuro leading the conversation. Probably to stupid secret puppet jutsus, if she let it go on long enough. 

“I don’t see your purpose, then." Sasori didn't like to admit he didn't know things, but it was worse, in his mind, to wait for information that was readily available. His position in Akatsuki had afforded him a certain power with his intel network and he had grown accustomed to knowing more than certain people. He hated not knowing, hated the weakness it forced on him. 

"You're on a need to know basis. Right now, you don't need to know." Okay, so Sakura didn't exactly have a definite study outline yet. In her defense, it was all happening so fast. Nevermind that she hadn’t expected to revive him so easily. She would have to make a list of questions… 

“Just kill me again and get it over with.” Even uttering his own death sentence Sasori looked as placid as an untouched lake. Not even a single ripple of emotion. 

“We’re not going to kill you,” Kankuro said quickly, shooting a glance at his partner in crime as if to ask, _Right?_

“No, we’re not. I just need more time to think over my questions.” Sakura addressed the top corner of the room, already formulating a mental list. 

For the millionth time, Sasori’s patience was beginning to run thin. He hadn’t been revived ten minutes and he was already asking for the sweet embrace of death. Not that he remembered what it had been like. For all he knew, it could’ve been absolute hell compared to these two buffoons. Well, make that a buffoon and an expert medical nin. It had taken her long enough to figure it out, bringing him back. As far as he could judge it had been about four or five years real time, but he would accept the war as an excuse. He supposed. 

A study of her person showed that she had not changed drastically, just the growing into her adult shape. Her face was thinner, arms taunt with more mass. But there was something new between those brows furrowed in thought. She had the same diamond as that Senju woman. It only made sense, she was her apprentice after all, but he’d wager it was more than decoration. Other than that infuriatingly unguessable detail, she was still just as aesthetically pleasing if not more so.

“Kakuro, it’s about to get medical in here. You sure you want to sit through this?” She addressed her comrade after her long train of thought was complete. 

"Bring it on, we've still got daylight to burn," he smirked, rising to the challenge. 

"Who says I'll be participating?" The two turned back to Sasori. Of course, there was always that. 

"Your curiosity?" Sakura guessed, hoping that would be enough. Could he even be curious? Maybe she should add that to her list of questions. Sasori narrowed his eyes.

"You may explain your intent. If I am interested, perhaps I'll answer your questions." 

Sakura tried not to roll her eyes.  As if he was the one in charge here. 

It was not unlike defending a research thesis in front of the medical board, she realized, and the task became less daunting in the way that it was more familiar. Though she had to admit, propositioning S-rank criminals was not quite as wholesome. 

"Your heart," she began, because it seemed appropriate to start with the first of her curiosities she had burned to address.

"My core," Sasori corrected scathingly because no, he didn't have a heart any more. Hearts were for living, loving creatures, of which he was none. Some kind of in between, some mockery stuck in limbo between half human and half puppet. 

"Core." Sakura was not daunted. She was thinking, that much was clear. Sasori grit his teeth. 

_Such an insufferable brat, even now_. 

"It's something of a medical curiosity, as I'm sure you're aware. I want to know how you made it." A paused. "I want to know how it keeps you alive," she corrected. 

"You brought me back from the belly of Hell to ask me one of my most precious secrets?" Sasori was admittedly willing to play this girl's game, but what was the sense in it if he didn't play his own? 

"I checked all of your notes that could be salvaged—"

"Ah, but it's not there you see," Sasori allowed himself to smirk once more. "It's all up here," he said, and made as if to tap his head but too bad, he had no arms to work with. 

"But you technically don't even have a brain," she pointed out, exasperated by another question that plagued her concerning the whole "human puppet" thing. It was downright maddening. How did it make any medical sense? So far, it didn't. 

"So instead of doing the footwork yourself, which took me years of compiling my own data, you know, you want me to just tell you. For what I assume is more than just your curiosity. Pathetic," he sneered. "You can't even come up with a better lie than that?"

"It's not a lie," she insisted hotly. If he had been capable of feeling pain, Sakura would've wrung his skinny little neck. He frowned at her, trying to silently call her bluff but she remained firm in her truth.

"And I suppose both the Kazekage and the Hokage have cleared this little...experiment? For the sake of alleviating your curiosity?" 

"Of course," she said at once. "But it's for research purposes."

Sasori could see through such an obvious lie. The way her ears started to heat with blood was a sure indication that she was just waiting to be caught. He would graciously overlook it this time.

"Of course," he echoed slowly. He loved to watch people squirm. Everyone was different, and Sakura was no exception. She did her squirming inwardly though, but he could see the tense of her spine. So different from the expressive child she had been. A true shinobi. 

Kankuro had kept his silence so long that Sakura forgot he was there. Naturally she jumped a little when he spoke up.

"How about it, old man?" He said. Kankuro didn't like silence filling spaces between conversation. Some people thought it made him seem unintelligent, but he was simply a man of action. "Pass on your legacy. Teach us some good stuff."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Of course he would sum up their objective in the most unattractive way. Kankuro had no grace, that was for sure.

"It's not like I have much of a choice," Sasori muttered. "I stay your prisoner to amuse a couple of curious children or cease to exist in this physical state." He let his words sink in a moment. "I'll let you know in a few hours."

  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 


End file.
